The Salsa Bar

Yesterday I had one of the best burritos ever. The different salsas were great. Truly a superior Mexican restaurant!

First I wanna say that I did not eat at the restaurant itself. I had my food delivered through UberEats.
I ordered Carne Asada plate and it was delicious. The meal consists of rice, your choice of beans and a large amount of steak pieces.
I also ordered carinta taco as well. I didn’t like the meat all that much but overall it was a OK taco.
The best part is that I got the meal for free. Since I used UberEATS for the first time I added the promotional code: eats-​uberEATING and got a $ 20 credit added to my account.
If you live in Los Angeles you can also get the $ 20 credit towards your first purchase on UberEATS.
Overall the taste was good.
The quantity of the food was ridiculously a great amount.
I’ll definitely will be ordering from here again.
Also, a great option if your trying to avoid gluten.

Whenever I’m in the area, I have to grab at least a quesadilla! I usually don’t like guacamole but theirs is sooo good! Also, their habanero salsa is one of my favorites. Although I am partial to the quesadilla, all of their meats are amazing! The service is good too.

Food is so delicious here .
The carne asado nachos are amazing! Once I saw other people post and pictures about them I wanted to try them and they were amazing.
Everyone at the table loves them.
Had chicken fajitas– were excellent — a side
Note they take 20 minutes to make (no big deal they tell you that)
The staff is very friendly!

I was kind of disappointed at this place. I spent $ 24 on a drink and two meals and I feel like the portions weren’t that good. It doesn’t come with chips, which you would think it would from the name of the place…
I could have gotten more bang for my buck at a Chevy’s…

Disappointed the moment I received my order. Ordered an Al Pastor burrito. I ordered my burrito and waited while others who ordered after me were served their food. The burrito arrived a with BURNED tortilla as well as a nice big tear on the side of my burrito which instantly resulted in my burrito breaking it’s water and giving birth all over my chips and dish. I immediately understood why my burrito came with chips. It’s so you can scoop up all the food on your plate immediately after your food falls apart while it makes its way to your mouth for masticating. Only stopped in because of $ rating. One and done for me. I didn’t finish my food. Kept tasting burnt tortilla the whole time.

If you are anywhere near Studio City, you need to skip right on past places like Chipotle or Qdoba and get to The Salsa Bar. Basically a taqueria, The Salsa Bar made me one awesome chicken burrito. That sucker was nice and big, on wrapped in a tortilla that was firm and grilled (not some mushy chain tortilla), and filled with top notch rice, chicken, and other ingredients. Plus, you could get as much fresh cilantro as you wanted from the salsa bar. ‘Nuff said!

I havr been going to this place for awhile now, I love the food and atmosphere here, but…
I’m going to have to agree with the reviewers here and say the lady who works there has no clue how to talk to customers when she gets frustrated or when there’s a miscommunication.
She gets snappy and sounds like she’s being bothered. This has happened to me personally and also observing her interact with customers.

Muy buen servicio, muy rapidos. Ordenamos nachos con carne asada, el plato es enorme. El burrito al pastor esta riquisimo. Y ordenamos unas quesadillas, las mejores que nos hemos comido!
Gracias!!!

We stumbled onto this place after leaving Universal Studios and it was exactly what we needed.
After a long and hot day at Universal Studios, my group of 7 just wanted to grab something quick, filling, and inexpensive. The Salsa Bar was the answer to our predicament. I was adamant about not eating at Universals because of the high price point and I prioritize eating at local restaurants when I travel in order to get a better feel of the city.
The Salsa Bar has a modest sign and we almost missed it at first glance. We stumbled into the restaurant and made a beeline for the register. I was hungry but I was not feeling hot melted cheese after a day in the sun, so I ordered two steak tacos a la cart with salsa, no lettuce. I filled up cups with each of the 7 salsas being offered for my group to try with their meals.
When all of our food was ready, our party lapsed into silence because we were so engrossed in eating everything. My steak tacos had an interesting seasoning, were well cooked, and the included salsa was just mild pico de gallo. My friend ordered a bean and cheese burrito and was so happy about the portion size. The chicken quesadilla was ordered and it was interesting that avocado was already cooked into it but it wasn’t a problem. The enchilada suizas with chicken were a hit and the plate was practically licked clean. The Special Nachos stole the show; they took a little while to prepare but were oh so worth it. The nachos came out piled high with cheese, beans, guacamole, sour cream, and al pastor meat. It was beautiful and we were all jealous of the friend that ordered it.
The customer service was prompt and the staff was very friendly. The restaurant was clean and had ample seating. Great food at a fair price!

My boyfriend and I were visiting and staying at a hotel nearby. We decided to grab (what we thought to be) a quick and easy dinner since we were tired from our day at Universal Studios.
… I don’t think I have ever had such an awkward and terrible service experience. The cashier was awful. She told me they were out of shrimp, even though there was shrimp cooking on the grill. When I tried to order the chicken fajitas, she told me they would take 30 minutes because they cook the chicken from scratch, and then advised that I shouldn’t get them. But then she went on to encourage me to get the chicken burrito instead, which they also apparently make from scratch. If both require chicken, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE THEN? And what dish is going to seriously take 30 minutes to make at a fast casual place?
We decided to get carne asada plates, which she also initially told us they were out of. While we were waiting for our food, we could hear her complaining about how busy it was, but there was 1 sit-​in table and maybe 2 – 3 takeout orders.
I feel bad for the guys cooking the food. They were hauling a** to get orders out while she did nothing except complain and refill some salsa, and also try to give us the wrong order as well.
It’s a shame because when we finally ate the food, it was delicious!

Okay okay… not many vegan options at all, but there is the veggie tostado which is pretty tasty, it’s cheap and quick! (Sans cheese and sour cream of course). The salsa bar can quickly spice up any meal and satisfy your taste buds. How awesome would it be if they threw just a few more amazing vegan items?!
But they get four stars simply for the staff. Wonderful people and super pleasant.
4 star fastish food restaurant with healthy tasty options.

Had the chance to try this during lunch time and was I not disappointed :). I normally don’t like Mexican food but their chicken burrito was the bomb. I would definitely come back to this place again!

Great food at a great price. Big portions, and yummy food at an amazing price. I love the Special Nachos and Horchata. My husband loves the burritos and my kids love the quesadillas.
It’s also very clean and friendly staff. And it’s open until 11 PM if you get those late night cravings.

The stuff here is super fresh! The ingrediants and meat are cleanly cooked and the entire burrito was full of healthy fibre from the beans to the lettuce.
I really liked how their burrito looked so I had to try it… it was great that they grilled the burrito so the skin was slightly crunchy and nice and hot… I recommend their chicken, their pork was a little soggy and made the skin soak in sauce which got messy
I love their sauce bar, their relaxed and lowkey type of setting, no wait line and inexpensive pricing; however the register lady (apparantly she’s new); didn’t know anything about the menu and was extremely ignorant about mexican food… not sure why you would work at a mexican food joint when you don’t know anything about it. It took us 15 minutes to order because of her lack of knowledge and about 8 minutes to get extra guacamole on a dead day. They should replace the register girl and get someone friendlier and knowledgeable.

I hate writing this but I think this place has slipped a bit since the last time I was here. I used to love coming here for a quick quesadilla but to be honest, the quality of the food just wasn’t there tonight. As I write this, my stomach is churning… my quesadilla was waaayyy too greasy… like dripping everywhere… and instead of putting the guac on the side, they now cook it inside the quesadilla?! Also the guac used to be really flavorful and today it just looked and tasted like green mush. The chicken was also super sour, like they had doused it in nothing but limes. I’m all for marinating chicken in authentic flavors, but this was nothing but lime. It was overkill.
My bf’s nachos were still pretty good, and the horchata was ok, but I gotta say, I’m pretty bummed out.

Wow hello, grilled burrito!
This was a nice surprise in the Studio City/​Universal area. They get very busy for breakfast and lunch but seem to run a very efficient operation.
The menu is small but what you’d expect. It’s good, high quality Mexican. Get the burrito, it’s loaded and will be enough for two meals! The ingredients are fresh and prepared right there for you! It’s a a more authentic version of Chipotle for sure.
Don’t be intimidated by the size or how busy it might be — you won’t be waiting long!

Holy cheat day! Sunday night carbs don’t count right? They are my antidepressant for the Sunday blues after the sun sets.
Nachos: Amazing! Loaded with cheese (my fav)
Chicken quesadilla: Amazing! Melting cheesey goodness
Steak burrito: Good. Soft and yummy. Meat was a little on the chewy side but good nevertheless
Will be back when I decide to give up on my health and fitness goals.

Update!
AND STILL — 5 stars!
I can’t get over that they use flap/​ranchera for their carne asada. Many Mexican food joints use lesser quality meat that they do not grill. The Salsa Bar does fast food Mexican right! Actually it’s not fair to consider The Salsa Bar a typical fast food restaurant. Food is great tasting, HUGE portions, and a reasonable price. The staff there is nice as well!
10% off for NBC Universal employees.

The Service: EXCELLENT! The owner himself took my order. Very friendly and personal. Food is prepared immediately. Everything is made to order. Many staffs are on duty, fast service.
The Food: Fresh ingredient and lots of stuff inside their burritos! Salsa bar available. Will definitely come back and try different food on the menu.
The Parking: private lot next to the restaurant (free)

I tried their fish taco, which was not at bad at all (though not quite the best I’ve ever had). Unlike virtually every other fish taco I’ve ever had, the fish within was not fried. I felt rather conflicted about that — it would undoubtedly have tasted better fried, but it was definitely also healthier served as it was.
The staff members seem pretty friendly, and I have nothing bad to say about them.
The restroom is clean, and parking was easily obtained in the adjacent lot.
Overall, I would definitely try this place again. To be completely honest, I wouldn’t order the fish taco again (unless I was seriously watching my weight), but the burrito that my dining companion had ordered seemed really good. Perhaps I will try one of those if/​when I return here …